• printable Chinese Zodiac colouring sheets
    Chinese New Year crafts

    Colour Your Luck: printable Chinese Zodiac Animal colouring sheets

    January 19, 2024 - By 

    Welcome to the fascinating world of Chinese Zodiac animals! The Chinese Zodiac, also known as Shengxiao, is a traditional classification scheme that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. Each animal is associated with specific traits and characteristics, making the Chinese Zodiac a rich source of inspiration for creativity. This year is the year of the dragon so we’re going to explore the fun and educational world of Chinese Zodiac animals with this sweet set of printable Chinese Zodiac animal colouring sheets. Not only will they provide an enjoyable colouring experience but…

  • snowdrops at Hampton Court Palace
    Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 483}

    January 15, 2024 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for a while over the last few years. It is my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of the adventures we have as a family. It’s a post I love to write and look back over. Five Happy Things {Week 483} Have you been watching Traitors? We didn’t watch the first season but are hooked on the second one. It’s something that we can all come together and watch. We all have our…

  • Large cross stitch Christmas tree
    Crafts for adults

    Large cross stitch Christmas tree

    January 12, 2024 - By 

    I love to add a couple of handmade decorations each year. This year I stitched some felt initial hoops for our family stockings, and thought I would add some cross stitched Christmas trees too. I used a simple template I designed and 3D printed. I’ll share the file in case you want to print and make one too. Supplies: Wooden embroidery hoop Heat erasable pen Felt Wool Needle Scissors 3D printed cross stitch template How to make a felt cross stitched Christmas tree I designed the plastic template in Autodesk Fusion 360  and 3D printed the cross stitch template on…

  • Mini gingerbread houses
    gingerbread

    Mini gingerbread houses

    January 10, 2024 - By 

    December was such a busy month that we didn’t have time to make our annual gingerbread house. For the last few years we’ve tried different ready-made gingerbread house kits as every supermarket seems to make their own. This year we opted for Vintersaga Mini gingerbread house kit from Ikea which featured in my Gingerbread Gift Guide. The kit cost £2.95 and I picked up some of their other gingerbread products too (their gingerbread dough is my favourite!). Mini gingerbread houses This kit makes six mini gingerbread houses which can be decorated and hung on a tree. I picked up a…

  • Liberty tana lawn
    Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 482}

    January 7, 2024 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for a while over the last few years. It is my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures. It’s a post I love to write and look back over. Five Happy Things {Week 482} The first week back at work was really hard and long! I wasn’t ready to go back to work at all, especially as my children had the week off school. The days felt very long however we…

  • Win Sky by Holly Webb
    competition

    Win Sky by Holly Webb (perfect for ages 8-12)

    January 3, 2024 - By 

    I love challenging myself to read and this year I’ve set a target of 35 books to read throughout the year. I love to read all sorts of books and still read with my daughter. She’s a big fan of Holly Webb and we were delighted to hear about her latest book, Sky. Staying with her grandparents in the Scottish Highlands, Lara is fascinated by the rare white snowy owl her grandad has spotted flying nearby. And when she follows the beautiful bird into the woods, it leads her on a magical adventure… Transported a century back in time, Lara…

  • Family Life

    Beautiful UK locations to get enviable holiday pictures

    January 1, 2024 - By 

    We’ve all been there, scrolling through our social media feeds and feeling jealous of those stunning holiday pics being posted by our friends. But we can’t all afford to jet off to Iceland or Alicante. Especially not just to take some pictures! Worry not, though, because you don’t have to jump on a plane to go get some awe-inspiring photographs to have your mutuals turning green with envy. The UK has plenty of beautiful spots to visit and capture for yourself, covering almost every type of scenery or backdrop you could ask for. So, rather than saving for a splurge…

  • Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 481}

    December 31, 2023 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for a while over the last few years. It is my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures. It’s a post I love to write and look back over. Five Happy Things {Week 481} I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Unfortunately we all came down with a cough which laid us all out, one by one. The kids got a computer (to build himself!) and the other received an iPad.…

  • homestyle

    Top tips for a good nights sleep

    December 30, 2023 - By 

    I don’t know about you but I can’t function if I haven’t had a good nights sleep. Just before Christmas my son caught a cold, which meant that we all caught it, one after another. Unfortunately this meant a lot of poor nights sleep, just when we needed more sleep, not less. I’m always interested in ways to improve our sleep. In today’s fast-paced world, quality sleep is often sacrificed at the altar of busy schedules and endless to-do lists. However, the importance of good sleep cannot be overstated. Have you heard of sleep hygiene? The term refers to both your…